This invention relates generally to record media scanners, and more particularly relates to an apparatus and method for causing a laser and a motor of said scanner to have power applied thereto only in the presence of an operator of the scanner or for a predetermined duration of time after the presence of an operator has been detected.
In recent years, retail establishments have made increasing use of coded indicia printed on articles or on tags affixed to articles, in order to facilitate speed and accuracy in check-out operations. One widely used code is the Uniform Product Code, which employs a plurality of parallel bars. Such codes are customarily read or scanned by a scanning device which may conveniently be associated with a point-of-sale terminal operated by a cashier. Bar code scanners customarily employ a laser as a light source, and also employ a motor to drive suitable optical devices which produce a scan pattern using the light beam from the laser. The light thus produced is reflected from the bar code symbol and is detected and decoded by the scanning device to provide the necessary information relating to the article being scanned. The laser and motor of a typical scanning system are actually in use during only a small portion of the total business day, when scanning operations are actually being performed. Particularly in certain types of retail establishments, there may be relatively long periods when no scanning operations are performed by a given scanning device. For example, in a grocery store certain check-out lanes may be closed except during rush-hour periods. The useful lifetime of the lasers and motors which form a part of such scanning devices can thus be prolonged if they are activated only when the scanning device is in service. An apparatus and method which would monitor scanner activity in a manner transparent to the operator, that is, without requiring the active intervention of the operator, would therefore be most helpful.